Anna Kendrick Felt 'Gross' Getting Paid for New Film

Anna Kendrick's directorial debut, Woman of the Hour, began streaming this month on Netflix, and it's garnering decent reviews. But while the 39-year-old Pitch Perfect actor is accepting praise for the film—which the AP describes as a "chilling, based-on-a-true-story drama about when a 1970s serial killer appeared on an episode of The Dating Game"—she didn't accept a paycheck for it, she revealed on a recent episode of the Crime Junkie AF podcast. During the program, Kendrick said it wasn't until just days before the film's premiere when she suddenly realized she might actually make money off her movie once it opened—a prospect that disturbed her, considering how the film depicts violence against women at the hands of real-life serial killer Rodney Alcala.

"I sort of asked myself the question of, like, 'Do you feel gross about this?' And I did," Kendrick said on the podcast, adding that the movie "was never a moneymaking venture for me." She noted to podcast host Ashley Flowers that "we're both ... steeped in some really valid ethical questions around true crime," per the BBC. Kendrick therefore decided to give the money she did end up making (she didn't say how much) to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and the National Center for Victims of Violent Crime, which Variety describes as "two of the country's leading nonprofits that support survivors of sexual abuse and violence." The organizations have both praised Kendrick for her work calling attention to the issue, "and for being a compassionate storyteller," per RAINN founder Scott Berkowitz. (More Anna Kendrick stories.)